If he wanted to...he would

THIS WEEKS HEADLINES

🐼 Hong Kong Unveils 2,500 Panda Sculptures Across the City
Hong Kong celebrates its love for pandas with a sprawling art exhibition featuring 2,500 panda sculptures placed at iconic landmarks like the Avenue of Stars and Ocean Park. The festival, set to run throughout December, highlights conservation efforts and the enduring charm of China’s most famous animal. 

🎨 Neanderthals May Have Been the First Artists
New research suggests Neanderthals created symbolic hand-stencil rock art more than 66,000 years ago, pushing back the timeline of human creativity. The discovery in Spain challenges long-held beliefs about the origins of art and Neanderthal intelligence.

🏃‍♂️ If He Wanted To, He Would
An artist has completed an astonishing 700-mile journey to create a massive GPS artwork for his wife using a fitness tracking app. The ambitious feat merges technology, endurance, creativity, romance, demonstrating how digital tools can redefine modern art.  

The Art Newsletter | Trivia

Try our weekly art trivia to test your art knowledge.

1: What was the game “the Sims” originally made for?

2: What city housed the first sky-scraper?

3: Which of the 7 wonders of the world is the oldest?

^₁Answers located at the bottom of the newsletter

VISUAL ARTS

Miami Art Week: Where the Art World Meets the Party Scene
As Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 kicks off, the city transforms into a playground for art enthusiasts, collectors, and creatives. This year’s event features over 286 galleries from 38 countries, showcasing a stunning range of contemporary works. Beyond the main fair, the city’s party scene adds to the vibrancy, with exclusive gatherings at the W Hotel and other chic venues blending art and culture seamlessly. From immersive installations to high-energy soirees, Miami Art Week continues to redefine how the art world mingles with the social sphere. 

Art Like a Tiger, Sting Like a Bee – Boxing at the Norton Museum
The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach unveils Strike Fast, Dance Lightly, a compelling exhibition that explores the artistry of boxing through the lens of legendary fighters like Muhammad Ali. With dynamic visuals and poetic storytelling, the show captures the grace, strategy, and rhythm of the sport, elevating boxing to an art form. Visitors are invited to reflect on the parallels between athleticism and artistic expression in this powerful new exhibit.

THIS WEEK'S ART SELECTION FROM OUR TEAM 

Take a moment to pause and join us every week as we showcase our favorite artists and the stories and history behind what makes them unique.

This striking composition showcases a diverse collection of traditional Japanese seals, also known as hanko or inkan. Edited by Shigeo Inobe, the piece dates back to 1908 and reflects the artistic and functional beauty of stamp design in Japanese culture. These stamps were historically used to represent personal or family identity and were essential in official documents, contracts, and artworks.

Caroline Cornelius’s work explores a certain fragility and fleetingness inherent in life and in particular, a woman's life. Using intimate scenes from her personal experience and memory as her main source of inspiration, her work is an exploration of the female form and the duality of ageing and a reflection on the complexity of maternal relationships. She draws on her past experience as a textile designer to search for incidental patterns in her observational drawing and uses a dynamic colour palette applied in layers to simplify and stylise her work. Caroline graduated from the University of Brighton studying Fashion and Textiles.

MUSIC

Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay: 2024’s Year in Music Unveiled

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for music fans—Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay have officially dropped, offering users a personalized look back at their listening habits for 2024. Both platforms have rolled out their annual recaps, but reactions are as mixed as the music genres they celebrate.

Spotify Wrapped:

Spotify listeners were quick to share their Wrapped playlists across social media, celebrating top artists, genres, and total listening hours. However, some users expressed disappointment with this year’s presentation, noting that the personalized data lacked the excitement and creativity seen in past years. Despite the critiques, Wrapped continues to dominate end-of-year music retrospectives, cementing its role as a cultural phenomenon. 

Apple Music Replay:

Meanwhile, Apple Music Replay offers a simpler but still beloved breakdown of user listening habits. For the first time, Apple has integrated year-round updates, allowing users to track their top songs and artists throughout the year. The 2024 Replay playlist and full recap are now available, providing a more seamless experience for subscribers eager to reflect on their favorite tracks. 

Whether you’re team Spotify or team Apple, these yearly features highlight how music defines our lives, giving fans a chance to celebrate the sounds that shaped their year. What was your most-played song of 2024?

Skee Mask: The Special One

Bryan Müller, known professionally as Skee Mask, has carved a unique niche in electronic music through his unwavering principles and distinctive sound. In a rare, in-depth profile by Resident Advisor, Müller opens up about his journey, creative process, and the philosophies that drive his artistry.

A Reluctant Star

Müller is renowned for his aversion to the conventional trappings of fame. He shuns social media, manages his career independently, and maintains a low public profile. This deliberate distance from the spotlight has only amplified the intrigue surrounding his work.

Musical Integrity

At the heart of Skee Mask's music lies a commitment to authenticity. Drawing inspiration from genres like techno, ambient, and breakbeat, he crafts tracks that defy mainstream trends. His releases on Ilian Tape, notably the acclaimed album "Shred," showcase his ability to blend complex rhythms with atmospheric soundscapes.

Beyond the Music

The profile delves into Müller's personal life, revealing his passion for analog equipment and his dedication to the craft. It also touches on his upcoming projects, including a new record label and a residency at Berlin's Tresor club, both slated for 2025.

For a comprehensive look into Skee Mask's world, read the full feature on Resident Advisor.

SONG OF THE WEEK | NEW RELEASES

Continuing our discussion from before, this week's song of the week is "Routine" by Skee Mask.

Who They Are:
As we highlighted earlier, Skee Mask (Bryan Müller) is a trailblazer in the electronic music scene. Known for his genre-defying sound and uncompromising authenticity, Skee Mask's work combines elements of techno, ambient, and breakbeat, creating immersive soundscapes that captivate listeners.

Why We Love It:
"Routine" is a perfect encapsulation of Skee Mask’s talent for blending intricate rhythms with atmospheric textures. The track’s hypnotic beats and subtle layers invite you into a sonic journey that feels both meticulously crafted and refreshingly raw. It's a standout piece that reflects Skee Mask's unique ability to balance complexity and emotional depth in electronic music.

Give it a listen, and let us know what you think by replying to this email–we read all the replies! 

New Album Releases This Week: 

As we enter December 2024, the music scene is abuzz with a variety of new releases across genres. Here's a curated list of notable albums dropping this week:

• Angel Olsen – Cosmic Waves Volume 1
  The acclaimed singer-songwriter ventures into new sonic territories with this release, blending her signature indie-folk style with experimental sounds.

• Dua Lipa – Live From The Royal Albert Hall
  Experience the pop sensation's dynamic performance recorded live, featuring hits and exclusive renditions that showcase her vocal prowess.

• Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road
  The Americana icon pays homage to The Beatles, reimagining classics with her distinctive voice and heartfelt interpretations.

• Lauren Mayberry – Vicious Creature
  The CHVRCHES frontwoman debuts her solo project, offering a collection of synth-pop tracks that delve into personal and introspective themes.

• Cameron Winter – Heavy Metal
  Geese's lead vocalist steps out with his solo album, presenting a fusion of rock influences and introspective lyrics.

FILM, TV & ANIMATION

She sparked Japan’s #MeToo reckoning. Then she made a documentary about it. Documentary Black Box Diaries has emerged as an immediate sensation, premiering all over the world and resonating deeply with audiences. Director and subject Shiori Ito recounts and investigates her own rape case involving a high-level Japanese official. As a journalist, Ito compiled television conversations, security footage, documentation and other records to generate material for her documentary, while digging deeper into the legal proceedings and archaic Japanese laws regarding sexual violence. The documentary has already received significant Oscar buzz, and has even been attributed to creating genuine change in Japanese laws regarding the issue. Black Box Diaries is showing at film festivals across the world. (LA Times)

‘Moana 2’ Achieves Demigod Status: All the Box Office Records Broken. Despite only being tracked to make $135 million on its opening 5-day weekend, an already impressive feat, Moana 2 racked up $225 million, making it the biggest 5-day weekend debut of all time, ahead of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Barry Keoghan Will Play Ringo Starr In Sam Mendes’ Beatles Biopics, According To The Iconic Drummer. The first Beatle has been cast for Sam Mendes’ elaborate feat of creating four Beatles biopics set to release in 2027. 

Weekly Film Recommendation

This week’s film recommendation is the surprisingly gripping Conclave (2024). Starring big names like Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, and Stanley Tucci as the late Pope’s inner circle, director Edward Berger takes his audience on a wild ride that will leave anyone on the edge of their seat. While many note the humor behind portraying the traditional ceremony of appointing a new Pope as being a very gossipy process, the film at its core beautifully encapsulates how painful faith can be. Cardinal Lawrence, played by Fiennes, carefully treads the line between a man with a crushing responsibility at the moment where he most wants away with it. Faith and morality are questioned as Cardinal Lawrence attempts to make the best decision for the global Christian community and grapples with the internal politics of the Vatican. 

The film is far more riveting than it appears at first glance, and genuinely will grasp one’s attention whether they are invested in the goings-on of the Catholic church or not. The film unravels in a purely satisfying way, with twists and turns reclaiming your attention just as you begin to lose your way. It culminates with a twist, and manages to make a poignant statement on the state of organized religion, tradition versus progress, and the power of one man who has unwavering faith in nothing other than uncertainty itself. Conclave is a must-watch for anyone curious about religious proceedings, the perspective of the allegedly most devout people in the world, and offers a fresh perspective of what it means to be faithful in today’s world.

DESIGN

Jaguar Unveils Bold New Concept Car Amid Controversial Rebranding

Jaguar has introduced the Type 00, a concept electric vehicle (EV) that marks a significant departure from its traditional design language. Revealed at Miami Art Week, the Type 00 features a minimalist yet striking aesthetic, with a long hood, prominent grille, and sleek LED lighting. The concept is available in vibrant colors like "Miami Pink" and "London Blue," signaling Jaguar's intent to attract a younger, more diverse audience.

This unveiling follows a controversial rebranding campaign that included a redesigned logo and promotional materials emphasizing inclusivity and modernity. The campaign faced criticism for allegedly departing from Jaguar's heritage and engaging in "woke" politics. Despite the backlash, Jaguar's leadership stands by the new direction, aiming to position the brand as a leader in the luxury EV market.

The Type 00 is not slated for production but serves as a design vision for Jaguar's upcoming all-electric lineup, expected to launch in 2026. These future models will feature advanced electric platforms capable of delivering up to 1,000 horsepower and a range of approximately 430 miles on a single charge.

VELUX Explores Ultra-Low Carbon Housing with Copenhagen Experiment

VELUX, in collaboration with partners EFFEKT, Artelia, and Enemærke & Petersen, has launched the Living Places Copenhagen project to test sustainable building practices. The initiative comprises seven prototypes—five open pavilions and two completed homes—designed to demonstrate the feasibility of constructing healthy, ultra-low carbon homes using existing materials and technologies.

The project aims to address environmental and health challenges by focusing on reducing the carbon footprint of buildings and enhancing indoor environmental quality. Initial findings indicate that these homes can achieve a threefold reduction in CO₂ emissions and provide a superior indoor climate compared to standard Danish single-family houses.

Living Places Copenhagen has been recognized with the Danish Design Award 2024 for its innovative approach to sustainable housing. The project serves as a living laboratory, offering insights into how future residential developments can balance ecological responsibility with occupant well-being.

That's it for this week's issue everyone. Thank you for reading! What we do is not possible without your support.